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8 Days Old!

I decided I needed to sit down and make the time to write a blog post! Between snuggling my little guy and trying to spend time with my other two, plus trying to rest, I’m just not on the computer much these days.

Joshua is doing wonderfully. He is so calm and patient and sweet. He is a very content baby, except of course when he’s hungry – then watch out! lol. But all my babies were like that and I think most are. He doesn’t mind diaper changes so much anymore, but he absolutely hates having his clothes changed – he’ll scream and scream until he’s dressed again and then he sucks his binky quite vigorously for a few minutes. It’s so cute. But again, he’s really calm and content and it’s so sweet. Once he’s fed and changed, he’s quite content to just sit there in your arms and suck his binky very sweetly. Or lay in his bassinet or bouncy seat or swing. We still hold him most of the time, but he does ok when I have to put him down which will definitely come in handy next week when I’m on my own with all three kids and Nate is back to work!

Joshua is sleeping really well for us too. When I wrote last, he wasn’t sleeping much in his bassinet. But the past couple of nights, he’s slept 3-4 hour stretches in the bassinet! I am thrilled. Combine that with my wonderful amazing husband who gets up with Joshua most of the time and lets me sleep so I can recover, and I really am doing well. I am really blessed.

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Joshua had his first check-up yesterday and our doctor said he was just perfect. He has regained the tiny bit of weight he lost after he was born (he was down to 10 lb 3 oz when we left the hospital) and is up to 10 lb 12 oz already! My little boy is almost 11 lbs at just 8 days old! No wonder he is fitting 3-6 month clothing! They’re still big on him, but not unreasonably large.

He’s grown from 20.5″at birth to 21.5″ now. I also found out that his head circumference was 37 cm at birth. (They never told us at the hospital or if they did I forgot.) As for percentiles, he is off the charts for weight, about 95th percentile for height and 75th percentile for his head.

He has a bit of a blocked tear duct in both eyes, but hopefully that will resolve itself soon. I think I remember that Nathan had that too and it went away after a couple weeks.

Joshua is looking great. It was wonderful to see our doctor too. She was thrilled to see Joshua and as usual took plenty of time to sit and make sure I was able to run any and all questions by her.

We discussed the whole circumcision fiasco too. I don’t think our doctor would have a problem okaying the circumcision at this point, but she can’t do it herself. The other pediatrician put in Joshua’s record that the recommendation was to wait until he was at least 3 months, have him tested for von willebrands (the bleeding disorder) and then do the circumcision. She said because that was in his chart, no doctor would touch him at this point. So we are stuck. Our options are to either 1) Not circumcise him or 2) wait until he is 6 months, get the bloodwork done, and then do the procedure. Our doctor said she was totally on board with whatever we chose to do and would support us either way. She said it’s not unheard of to get it done at 6 months (sometimes doctors refuse to do a circumcision at birth for any number of reasons) and then the parents might do it at 6 months. She said that’s actually a really good age as they are a bit older, will heal very quickly, and yet are still young enough that they won’t have any memory of the procedure. At that point too, it would be an outpatient procedure and they would use general anesthesia. That’s the part I’m unsure about. At this point, we don’t know what we are going to do. We have lots of time though so we will pray about it and decide later on.

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Nathan & Emily are doing well. They are adjusting nicely to their new brother.

Nathan loves to hold Joshua and is really good with him. He did freak out when Joshua spit up a bit while Nathan was holding him the other day, so it was a good thing I was right there. We had to explain to him that sometimes babies do spit up and it was ok, he should just tell Mom or Dad and we would take care of it.

Emily loves to hold Joshua’s little hands. It’s so funny, she’s always grabbing him and saying “awww.” She also loves to give him kisses. And let’s not forget the binky – she’s a very good helper in putting the binky back in his mouth after it falls out.

Both kids are being really good helpers – they’ll grab diapers, blankets, etc. for us. It’s so sweet.Earlier, I was complaining that the guinea pig had made a mess of shavings on the floor again and Nathan got the broom and began sweeping it up without me asking. My sweet sweet boy! He is really taking his role as the oldest very seriously. I am so proud of him.

My wonderful helpers:

As for me – I am doing quite well. I actually have very little pain now and am just taking Motrin as needed. I can get up and walk around, actually much easier than when I was pregnant! lol.

The most amazing thing for me has been my recovery once I got home. With Emily, when I got home, I still had several days where it was extremely painful for me to get up from the bed, turn over, even lay down – it’s the stomach muscles. This time, it was only painful for a day and since then, it’s been quite a breeze. Not that I’m not sore at all when sitting up in bed, but it’s not much compared to last time. I’m healing very quickly & I’m so happy for that.

I mentioned that to our family doctor yesterday and also the fact that I’ve been taking 2000-3000 mg of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) daily for the entire pregnancy. I asked if that might have anything to do with how fast I am healing and she said absolutely – Vitamin C is excellent for healing and also to prevent scar tissue. I also did not get any new stretch marks this pregnancy which was pretty amazing considering how big Joshua was. Again, another pro from Vitamin C. Of course, I know that ultimately it was the Lord and His healing hand on me, but I do think He used some things like Vitamin C to help.

So I am healing well. I am super tired still and run out of energy very quickly. At this point, I think that’s the hardest thing for me. I am feeling better physically so it’s tempting for me to want to get back to my normal household chores, etc. But I’m not ready for that yet, so I have to be careful. I have to remind myself that I just gave birth 8 days ago and had major surgery to boot! Also thankfully, Nate is home (he’ll be home until Monday when he goes back to work) and he has been wonderful in letting me rest (making me rest when I’m tempted to do too much) and chasing after the older two kids, plus doing household chores like dishes, picking up, etc.

So we’re managing well. Plus the ladies from our church are bringing us meals all this week and all of next week. I am so incredibly thankful! It’s such a huge help and a huge blessing.

So there you have it – our lastest update. Nothing too exciting, but this is us. 🙂